Here are the "Chief accomplishments of the special Session of the 73rd Congress, March 9 - June 16, 1933"
These fifteen pieces of legislation were called "the Honeymoon Bills" - his critics pointed out that not one of them originated in Congress and added to their argument that Congress had been marginalized during the earliest period of his presidency.
FDR's critics had a thing or two to say about the first year of "The New Deal"...
Click here to read about FDR and the press.
This 1933 magazine article anticipating the reign of FDR appeared on the newsstands on the same day as the man's first inauguration. The article is composed of various musings that had been published in numerous papers across the economically depressed nation as to what manner of leadership might the Americans expect from their new President.
"No President has ever inherited such a load of problems and responsibilities as Roosevelt. Click here to read President Hoover's
farewell warning to the nation.
"To those who have followed the political career of President Roosevelt, this unprecedented emphasis on public relations and publicity is no surprise. No president has ever been more alive to the potentialities of maintaining a 'good press', of gauging public reaction to his policies and of timing his announcements to obtain the widest and most sympathetic audience possible... No party organization could afford the elaborate press relations machinery which existed on March 4, 1933. Its cost, including salaries, printing, supplies etc., is today in excess of $1,000,000 annually, and it is being paid for by the American taxpayer."
Click here to read about President Harry Truman...
"In certain quarters it is asserted that Mr. Roosevelt's 'New Deal' is nothing other than the first stage of an American movement toward Fascism. It is said that, although the United States has not yet adopted the political structure of Italy and Germany, the economic structure of the country is rapidly being molded upon the Fascist pattern." The attached article presented a dusk till dawn account of one day in the life of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882 – 1945).
Written during his first term (prior to the war), the journalist recounted who the reoccurring players in his life were, the time of his rising, the preferred meals, the length of the meetings, distractions, recreations and other assorted minutia -but you'll not read the word "wheelchair" once. This is a fine example of the press black-out that was in place in order to prevent the public any knowledge whatever of Roosevelt's paralytic illness, which rendered him paralyzed from the waist down (he suffered from Guillain-Barré syndrome which he contracted in 1921).
Read a 1945 interview with FDR's economic adviser, Bernard Baruch; click here.
Click here to read about the four inaugurations of FDR. Here are the results of PATHFINDER MAGAZINE's 1940 poll concerning FDR's controversial run for a third term. The pollsters were interested in discovering the voter's thoughts on the third term as a concept for future presidents - rather than gaining a better understanding as to the popularity of President Roosevelt.
The poll considered the opinions of citizens who voted for FDR in 1936 and those who sided with Republican Alf Landon in the same election. They concluded that 68.6% of poll's participants were against a third presidential term.
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